Territory



"(No Model.)

` H. R. SPENCER.

. BREAST STRAP IRON- vl\To.-57(i,908.y y Paten-ted Feb.9,1897.

` Iljzgov Harry JDM 5156220621 a( WM l I/ f f i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

' HARRY R. SPENCER, OF HENNESSEY, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

BREAST-STRAP IRON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,908, dated February 9, 1897. Application filed May 20,1896. Serial No. 592,336. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern."

Be it known that I, HARRY R. SPENCER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hennessey, in the count-y of Kingfisher and Territory of Oklahoma, have invented a new and useful Breast-Strap Iron, of which the following is a specification.

This invention aims to provide an iron or breast-strap center which will economize in the use of leather, properly position the neckyoke connection, enable the horse to be quickly harnessed and unhitched, and obviate the use of buckles, snap-hooks, and like connections generally employed for attaching the breast-strap to the harness or neck-yoke. For a full understanding of the merits and advantages of the invention reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings and the following description.

The improvement is susceptible of various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof, and to a full disclosure of the invention an adaptation thereof is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a plan view of a breast-strap iron embodying` the principles of this invention. Fig. 2 is a detail section of an end portion of the iron, showing the manner of removing or placing in position the loop or clip provided at a terminal of the breast-strap. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the loop or clip in locked relation. Fig. 4 is an elevation of a modification. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the construction shown in Fig. 4, having a portion of the loop or clip broken away. Fig. 6 is a cross-section on the line X X of Fig. 3.

Corresponding and likeparts are referred to in the following description and indicated in the several views of the drawings by the same reference-characters.

The center or breast iron l will be provided in dierent sizes and will be formed at one end with a loop to receive a clip 2 or the end of the breast-strap 3, and will be formed at its opposite end with a hook 4 of less width than the iron, so as to have a portion of the latter projecting from opposite sides of the hook, as shown at 10, forming ledges which support the side members of the clip. The inner portion of the hook is formed with a depression 5, which extends to one side of the opening or throat 1l, and which receives the cross-bar 6 of a clip 7, so as to hold the latter in locked relation. This depression 5 may be located to either side of the opening or throat l1, through which the cross-bar 6 passes, so long as the desired end is attained, namely, to prevent the clip 7 from becoming accidentally disengaged from the iron.

The clip 7 is secured to a terminal of the breast-strap 3 and .is provided at its outer end with a cross-bar 6, which is semicircular in cross-section, the circular part entering the depression 5, so as to retain the clip in place. When it is required to remove the clip from the iron or place it in position, the clip is turned with its rear end pointing toward the front of the iron, thereby bringing the fiattened side of the cross-bar 6 opposite the depression 5, when the clip can be moved relative to the hook, as required. After the crossbar reaches the inner end of the hook and the clip is turned so as to cause its rear end to point away from the iron the cross-bar will interlock with the iron by entering the depression 5.

As shown in Fig. 5, the depression 5 is formed in the bill of the hook, and the clip 8 has its cross-bar 9 circular in cross-section and disposed eccentrically with relation to the terminals of the forked members between which the hook is received. The clip 8 is engaged with or removed from the hook 4 in precisely the same manner as herein described, and the terminal portions of the forked members eccentric to the cross-bar 9 ride upon the side portions or ledges 12 of the iron adjacent to the hook and cause the cross-bar to enter the depression 5 when moving the rear end of the clip away from the front of the iron after the parts have been properly positioned, thereby causing the clip and iron to interlock. In each instance the cross-bar is practically disposed eccentrically to the ends of the forked members, and when the rear end of the clip'is turned away from the front of the iron the said forked members will engage with the portions of the iron upon opposite sides of the hook and cause the cross-bar to enter the depression, whereby an interlocking of the iron l and the clip is eifected.

IOO

Having thus desoribed the invention7 what is Claimed as new is- A breast-strap iron or center having an integral loop at one end andan integral hook 5 and side extensions or ledges at the opposite end, and formed with a depression at the inner end of and to one side of the throat of the hook directly opposite the side extensions or ledges, in combination With a breast-strap, a

1o clip applied to the breast-strap and connecting it with the aforesaid loop, and a second clip secured to the breast-strap and comprisin g forked members and a cross-bar, the latter being eccentric-ally disposed with respect I 5 to the terminals of the said forked members HARRY R. SPENCER.

Vitnesses:

HENRY ZUBER, GEORGE E. GUNDLACH. 

